European Patent Office signs contract with Google

30 November 2010 - The European Patent Office and Google have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to improve access to patent translations in multiple languages.

Today, if anyone wishes to register a patent it is only compulsory to do it in one of EPO's official languages - English, French and German.  And if a company or an individual is willing to translate their patent into any other languages of those countries where the patent is planned to be applied, they would to do it at their own cost. As a result, obtaining EU patent coverage via professional translation agencies appears to be very expansive. This means that a lot of patent information is just not available in many countries. And it contributes greatly into difficulty of finding relevant field data for those who are willing to make a research on certain type of patents.

The collaboration with Google is supposed to make the translation process faster and cheaper. Offered technology allows patents to be translated into languages of 38 countries. Meanwhile, EPO will provide Google with access to the data base of translated patents, in order to improve the machine technology of legal translations. The number of documents available approaches 1.5 million, and this number will grow by approximately 50 000 patent grants each year. In addition to EU languages partnership covers some Asian languages in emerging markets, like China, Japan and Korea. This advancement would allow many European businesses and innovators to significantly reduce their translation costs and gain a legal protection in a wide number of countries.

EPO President Benoit Battistelli said: "The European Patent Office is one of the largest providers of free information on state-of-the-art technology disclosed in patents from around the globe. The partnership with Google to create machine translation tools for patents will help inventors, engineers and R&D teams to retrieve relevant documents efficiently - in their own language - from our wealth of published patent information. This agreement with Google puts the EPO at the forefront of efforts to strengthen the patent system's international character and improve its quality for the benefit of the global economy."

Google said: "This collaboration is exciting for both Google and Europe. It will help to increase access to information for all Europeans, supporting the innovation process and allowing the European economy to strengthen its competitiveness...It demonstrates how private companies can work with public institutions to find innovative solutions to difficult issues."

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